BIG DATA

Sun-Powered Render Farm Brings State-of-the-Art CG Film to Life -- The upcoming Nickelodeon Movies computer-animated movie "Barnyard," distributed by Paramount Pictures and slated for release on July 28, features complex computer-generated animation that required unique and creative solutions from Sun Microsystems. The filmmakers' challenging vision for the film -- with multiple characters per scene and characters with complex features such as fur and scales -- meant complex data, which requires more time-intensive computing. Leveraging a rendering farm based on Sun Fire servers powered by high-performance AMD Opteron processors and Sun StorEdge data management systems, "Barnyard's" artists were able to quickly identify incomplete scenes, make necessary edits, and manage finished shots. "'Barnyard' is a technically challenging, state-of-the-art computer-animated movie and Steve Oedekerk, the director, had big ideas for the movie," says executive producer Aaron Parry. "These challenges required effective solutions, and Sun came through. They were committed to helping our artists do their jobs and the results are up on the screen." To help bring "Barnyard" to life, Sun created an 80 terabyte high performance computing (HPC) render farm to generate animated images designed by a model software program. Running 1,200 Sun Fire V40z and Sun Fire V20z x64 (x86, 64-bit) servers powered by AMD Opteron processors, the render farm also includes Sun StorEdge 3510 and 3511 FC arrays, and Qlogic fibre channel switches. The production also utilized the Sun Java orkstation W2100z and Sun 24.1-inch LCD Flat Panel Monitors in its desktop environment to more efficiently edit final film. Allowing the 'Barnyard' production team to focus on its core strength -- producing beautifully rendered animated films -- Sun Services helped design and deploy the render farm. "In today's competitive and fast-moving film business, making a high-quality animated feature on-time and on-budget is no easy task," said Juan Dewar, vice president, Internet Services Media & Entertainment, Sun Microsystems. "Sun's new product line and increased entertainment industry focus is delivering breakthrough performance and solutions to meet the production's stringent requirements."